Test of Courage

(Katarina’s Perspective)

The night had fallen, and our group had returned to the luxurious inn we’d reserved in advance.

The beach was now under strict lockdown due to the appearance of that giant magical beast, bringing our seaside adventure to an abrupt end.

—Or so it should have been.

“Even though that octopus ruined our beach trip,”

Margaret spoke up again, her tone suggesting another one of her wild ideas.

“I actually thought that octopus tasted pretty good.”

Olivia chimed in at the worst possible moment.

“Don’t interrupt!”

The dark-haired seaweed shot a dead-fish-eyed glare at the blue-haired troublemaker.

“But we’ve got other activities lined up!”

“Other activities?”

“Yep, you heard right!”

With that, Margaret flicked off the room’s lights and pulled out something resembling a flashlight, shining it under her face.

A creepy atmosphere instantly settled in… Not that it was truly creepy, but the light hitting her lifeless expression was visually unsettling, to say the least.

“You know, there’s an abandoned mansion deep in the nearby forest… They say its owner died unjustly, consumed by hatred, and cursed the entire forest.

Many who ventured in never came out, lost forever…

Their vengeful spirits are trapped there, cursing the next traveler who dares to enter…”

What a load of nonsense.

This low-grade ghost story wouldn’t even fool a child. Who’d fall for it?

“Eek…!”

But just as I thought that, a faint whimper came from beside me.

I glanced over and saw my silver-haired maid, now curled up in a corner, trembling, soft “wuwu” sounds escaping her lips.

“Hm?”

Could it be? Ailena’s scared of this kind of ghost story? This bottom-tier nonsense?

Ailena always carries herself so maturely, like an adult—it’s hard to imagine her being afraid of something like this.

But seeing her like this, so pitiful yet adorable, it’s… strangely appetizing.

A peculiar feeling coiled in my chest…

“Oh my?”

Even Margaret noticed, staring at Ailena with keen interest.

But she didn’t tease her too much and soon turned the light back on.

With the room bright again, Ailena seemed less frightened.

“It’s just a legend… doesn’t mean it’s real.”

Margaret shrugged, as if smoothing things over.

I quickly jumped in to comfort Ailena:

“Exactly, Ailena. If it were true, this forest would’ve been sealed off long ago.”

“R-right… That makes sense, haha… haha…”

“Hmph, who’s to say?”

Just as Ailena was calming down, Margaret piped up with words sure to unsettle her again.

“You haven’t seen it with your own eyes, so how can you be sure?”

Ailena’s trembling is honestly adorable, so I let it slide.

“So, tonight’s main event is… a test of courage! And the location? That very forest.”

Ever since my past life, I’ve been terrible with ghost stories and creepy tales.

My little sister used to scare me with those weird “rule-based” horror stories that gave me goosebumps just hearing them.

In this life, my resistance seems even worse… I definitely wouldn’t have been trembling back then…

Absolutely not!

But Margaret, after spinning her ominous ghost story, had the audacity to suggest a test of courage!

No way I’m joining in!

“You sure? You’ll be all alone in the inn, you know. And let me tell you about this inn…”

Before I could even finish refusing, she started again.

I mean, staying alone at the inn would make me look like a total loner, and I have my duty to look after the young mistress… It’s definitely not because I’m scared!

Not long after, we gathered in front of the forest.

“Hoo-hoo—!”

Under the veil of night, even the owls’ cries sounded eerie and menacing.

Was that a white shadow flickering between the trees…? No way it’s a ghost, right?

“Wuu…”

Just thinking about it made my legs go weak…

“Alright, since it’s a test of courage, let’s split into groups!”

Margaret pulled out a set of sticks, their ends colored red or blue.

“With five of us, we’ll form two groups: one with three, one with two. We’ll draw lots—totally fair!”

She clutched the colored ends, kneaded the sticks to shuffle them, and mixed up the order.

“Come on, everyone pick one!”

Following her instructions, we each drew a stick.

In the end, the young mistress and I both got blue, while the others drew red.

‘This grouping doesn’t feel like something you’d get from a random draw—it’s almost too perfect.’

But Margaret did shuffle the sticks, and we couldn’t see the colors… Maybe it’s just fate.

“We’ll head in first, then!”

Led by Margaret, the red team of three ventured into the forest.

About twenty minutes later…

“Ailena, it’s our turn.”

The young mistress stared at me with a helpless expression.

“I… I know…”

I knew, but my feet wouldn’t listen to me!

“Sigh…”

My hesitation even made the young mistress sigh… I’m such a disappointment to her, aren’t I?

“Ailena, come here.”

“Y-Yes… milady…”

“Hey! Who’re you calling ‘aunty’ with that tone?!”

I hobbled over to the young mistress’s side.

Just as I wondered what she was about to do, she suddenly bent down and scooped me up—into a princess carry.

“Wha—?! M-Milady!? W-W-What are you doing!?”

My heart raced the moment I realized what was happening, pounding like a runaway engine.

“What am I doing? A princess carry, obviously!”

“I-I-I know that, but why!?”

“Because your legs are shaking so much you can’t even walk.”

“Wuu…”

She’s not wrong, but…

This is doing way more damage to my heart!

“Milady… p-please put me down… I can walk on my own…”

“Really?”

She was clearly skeptical.

“Really! Milady, put me down…”

Thanks to her antics, my fear had somehow lessened considerably…

I could probably manage to walk… maybe.

“Alright!”

There was a hint of disappointment in her tone, but she obediently set me down.

“…Though I might’ve overestimated myself.”

Even on solid ground, the unknown terrors of the forest kept me rooted in place, only able to inch forward bit by bit.

“!”

Then, a warm sensation flowed from my palm straight to my heart.

Looking down, I saw the young mistress’s small hand clasping mine.

“Feeling better now?”

Her warm smile seemed to hold a magical power, banishing all my fears.

An inexplicable sense of calm washed over me…

“Mm.”

I nodded dumbly.

“Great! Let’s go!”

And just like that, we made our way into the forest, more or less smoothly.